South Natomas man sentenced in 2013 fatal stabbing

A South Natomas man will serve 39 years to life in prison for fatally stabbing a Natomas man and torching his apartment after a fight in February 2013.

David Acuna, 31, was sentenced Friday after being convicted in May of first-degree murder in the Feb. 1, 2013, stabbing death of Patrick Kendrick.

Sacramento County prosecutors said Acuna went to Kendrick’s Norwood Avenue apartment to broker a deal for electronics. Kendrick offered to trade the gear for heroin, but Acuna wanted money, prosecutors said.

The two came to an agreement before the fatal fight that ended Kendrick’s life and ultimately sent Acuna to prison. Prosecutors said Acuna knocked Kendrick unconscious and dragged him to the apartment’s kitchen where Acuna stabbed him seven times in the back and neck before fleeing. He then asked girlfriend Guadalupe Cabrera, 32, to help him start the fire that engulfed Kendrick’s apartment.

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Police first questioned Cabrera as a potential witness the morning of the fire but quickly arrested her on suspicion of being an accessory to murder and arson to an inhabited structure. Cabrera is serving eight years after accepting a plea deal in April.

Acuna, badly burned in the blaze, eluded authorities for nearly a week before Sacramento police arrested him on Feb. 6, 2013, at his Brewerton Drive home.